'Saving Brinton' introduces the world to Iowa beauty and an iconic bearded historian — and it's coming to TV

The focus of the documentary was initially the discovery of a rare collection of some of the earliest motion pictures, stored in an Iowa shed. But it soon shifted to an iconic rural figure, a 6-foot-3 teacher who wears a long white beard.

Michael Zahs with the projection of the old Brinton films on his rural Washington shed.(Photo: Special to The Register)

Thousands of Iowans saw “Saving Brinton” during its two tours of the state, the latest ending in early November. The documentary about a retired Iowa history teacher who discovers some of the earliest motion pictures has also captured attention across the world in the past 18 months.

On Monday, “Saving Brinton” didn't make the Oscars short list, although it was a tough year for documentaries — for sheer volume (166 films eligible) and quality of numerous box office hits, including “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” “RBG,” and “Three Identical Strangers.”

Ye, the visibility of "Brinton" continues to grow. It can be seen in Iowa and nationally in January — at 8 p.m. Jan. 7 on Iowa Public Television, with other airings following on public television's World channel.

Producers there say it will appeal to the “Antiques Roadshow” crowd for its story of lost art rediscovered in an Iowa farmhouse. But the Iowa setting will hook others.

“I’ve had people tell me they’ve never been to Iowa, but they are coming,” said Michael Zahs, the film's history teacher subject. “Some critics have even said, 'This place can’t be real, surely we had concocted it.' But it really does. They like the pace and beauty of the place and the genuineness of the people.”

Iowa City filmmakers Andrew Sherburne, Tommy Haines and John Richard discovered Zahs several years ago. Zahs, of rural Washington, Ia., is a saver of Iowa’s past, gathering such items as the original plant held by the stern woman in a Grant Wood painting and the old steeple of a local demolished church, and a historian who doesn’t dazzle with dates but seduces with stories.

In 1981, he gathered a 10,000-item collection at an estate sale that once belonged to Frank and Indiana Brinton, Washington natives who more than a century ago traveled Iowa to show early motion pictures dating back to 1895. He put the films in his shed, where they gathered dust.

Zahs' quest to get them recognized is the narrative thread of the film.

Michael Zahs, a retired history teacher, saved rare films that date to 1895 and became the subject of the 2017 documentary "Saving Brinton."(Photo: Special to The Register)

“We wanted people to take the same journey we took, and that Mike took,” said Sherburne.

What they discovered is the film’s narrator was its star, how he could get teary talking about the past, and how he could engage Iowans in history, whether at a church potluck or among an Amish gathering. He always said that the biggest part of the word history is story.

“I was born 100 years too late and got held up somewhere,” Zahs said. “But I hope I can be a bridge. I really want people to realize what the people that came before provided for us.”

Zahs, 71, personally attended 119 of the films’ showing. He took 85 flights, as the filmmakers made the push to dozens of film festivals.

“I still expect to wake up and this was a dream. It doesn’t seem real,” Zahs said. “I’ve reconnected with 300 former students all over the world, and that has been the high point to me.”

Michael Zahs, a retired teacher from rural Washington, Iowa, found and saved early rare films with links to Iowa, which became the subject of the 2017 documentary "Saving Brinton."(Photo: Special to The Register)

He’s been in schools where teachers were sure they wouldn’t sit through the film, but they stayed an hour after to ask questions. The kids like the story of discovery, finding films that hadn’t been seen for 100 years, including footage from film pioneer George Melies. The adults, he said, yearn for a sense of community portrayed in the film.

“It represents Mike’s Iowa, a slower pace of life in the incredibly hectic pace that dominates so much of our lives,” Sherburne said. “It’s also the sheer joy and wonder Mike has been able to represent in bringing these films back to life. These films and Mike bring a smile back to their faces.”

In Iowans' Frank and Indiana Brinton film collection were found rare films of George Melies, a cinema pioneer show here.(Photo: Special to The Register)

Zahs said that “Saving Brinton” even had a showing for Iowa lawmakers, but only two came.

What they knew about Iowa film was largely the 2009 film scandal, Zahs said, when $26 million in tax credits were improperly issued and seven people were ultimately convicted of fraud or theft in connection with it.

“I wanted the legislators to see that great filmmaking was done here,” he said.

Many more people saw “Saving Brinton” at an international festival in Rotterdam in the, Netherlands, where audience voted it 10th among 593 films seen by more than 250,000 people. It even beat 2017 Oscar winner “The Shape of Water.”